-The Hindu Business Line Seek ban on import of formulations; want trials before allowing them Hyderabad: Pesticide manufacturers and farmers are up in arms against the provisions of the Pesticides Management Bill 2017, which, they believe are detrimental to Agriculture and agro-chemical industry. Allowing import of formulations without having to register technicals is contrary to the goal of Make in India campaign launched by the Union government, they said. They want an immediate ban...

-The Indian Express According to the Met department, Punjab may receive heavy showers coupled with strong winds till April 11. Experts have advised farmers to construct trenches and dig up some earth on the sides of the field in case there is rain. Jalandhar: Even as Punjab received mild to heavy rainfall coupled with hailstorm and cyclonic winds last night and wee hours Monday, however, no loss of ready-to-harvest wheat crop was...

-The Hindu The draft Forest Policy re-emphasises production forestry, raising many ecological and social concerns Government policy documents are statements of goals, priorities and strategies. If old strategies have failed or circumstances have changed, they should be revised. Given that our Forest Policy was last revised in 1988, changes are perhaps overdue. The new draft Forest Policy 2018, however, ignores the lessons from this period and returns to the state-managed forestry of...

-The Telegraph Punjab assesses damage after shock showers flatten crops and fuel storage fears Chandigarh: An unusual spell of rain on Monday morning has cast a cloud on the wheat crop yet to be harvested in Punjab, forcing the Agriculture department to sent teams across the state to assess the damage. The rains have come at a time Punjab has been grappling with a storage crisis. The state has a total storage capacity of...

-Business Standard Suicides by farm labourers increased 9% to 5,019 in 2016 (14 every day) from 4,595 in 2015 (13 every day) As many as 6,351 farmers/cultivators committed suicide in 2016 across India, or 17 every day, according to the latest home ministry data. Suicides declined 21 per cent from 8,007, or 22 every day, in 2015, data show. Suicides in the farming sector declined 10 per cent — from 12,602 in 2015...